Greg McKeown Quotes

#1. I realized that journalism was not just about regurgitating the facts but about figuring out the point. It wasn't enough to know the who, what, when, and where; you had to understand what it meant. And why it mattered.

Greg McKeown

#2. Scott Doorley and Scott Witthoft in their book Make Space,

Greg McKeown

#3. I'd rather be honest and lose than be dishonest and win

Greg McKeown

#4. One of the best ways to seed an opportunity is to allow someone to discover the opportunity for him- or herself.

Greg McKeown

#5. I think we've been oversold the value of more and undersold the value of less.

Greg McKeown

#6. The word priority was singular for 500 years - what does priorities mean - 'many many first things.'

Greg McKeown

#7. Play stimulates the parts of the brain involved in both careful, logical reasoning and carefree, unbound exploration.

Greg McKeown

#8. If I didn't already own this, how much would I spend to buy it?

Greg McKeown

#9. As John Maxwell has written, "You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything."9

Greg McKeown

#10. Discern the vital few from the trivial Many.

Greg McKeown

#11. by abolishing any chance of being bored we have also lost the time we used to have to think and process.

Greg McKeown

#12. We often think of choice as a thing. But a choice is not a thing. Our options may be things, but a choice - a choice is an action. It is not just something we have but something we do.

Greg McKeown

#13. It would have been easy to think of the jobs in terms of that ratio between time and reward. But I knew what really counted was the relationship between time and results.

Greg McKeown

#14. The ancient Greeks had two words for time. The first was chronos. The second was kairos. The

Greg McKeown

#15. The ability to choose cannot be taken away or even given away-it can only be forgotten.

Greg McKeown

#16. The life of an Essentialist is a life lived without regret. If you have correctly identified what really matters, if you invest your time and energy in it, then it is difficult to regret the choices you make. You become proud of the life you have chosen to live.

Greg McKeown

#17. To discern what is truly essential we need space to think, time to look and listen, permission to play, wisdom to sleep, and the discipline to apply highly selective criteria to the choices we make. Ironically,

Greg McKeown

#18. There should be no shame in admitting to a mistake; after all, we really are only admitting that we are now wiser than we once were.

Greg McKeown

#19. Remember that if you don't prioritize your life someone else will.

Greg McKeown

#20. Done right, a strategic intent is really one decision that makes 1,000 decisions.

Greg McKeown

#21. Take a deep breath. Get present in the moment and ask yourself what is important this very second.

Greg McKeown

#22. Research has shown that of all forms of human motivation the most effective one is progress. Why? Because a small, concrete win creates momentum and affirms our faith in our further success.

Greg McKeown

#23. I think we are in a non-essentialist bubble - everything seems important - so of course nothing is.

Greg McKeown

#24. Essentialism: only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.

Greg McKeown